What does it take to deliver excellent health care to the residents and visitors of the Tappahannock and Northern Neck region for just one year? Riverside is counting the ways.

TAPPAHANNOCK, Va. - After preparing more than 78,600 meals for patients and visitors, making almost 23,000 patient visits for home health or hospice services, renovating two dozen private patient rooms, conducting more than 80,600 patient office visits, performing more than 155,000 lab tests or filling over 166,200 pharmacy orders – the teams at Riverside Tappahannock Hospital, Riverside Medical Group, Riverside Home Health, Hospice, and The Orchard have helped to heal, nurture, and care for tens of thousands in the last year.

Providing community care, where you’re more than a number.

Admitting more than 1,800 patients to the hospital and performing over 1,900 surgeries has kept the care teams at Riverside Tappahannock Hospital busy. And The Orchard took in more than 260 new patients and residents in 2017. But if you ask Esther Desimini, vice president and administrator of Riverside Tappahannock Hospital, what matters the most, she is focused on the people delivering and receiving care.

“What stands out to me more than the numbers are the stories that I hear from our patients about the positive impact we’ve had on their health,” Desimini says. “We have nursing staff who have driven patients home when they needed a ride. We also have team members who offered to pick up prescriptions for patients and subsequently brought them Thanksgiving dinner when they realized they might go without.”

In the last year alone, Desimini can recall several instances where patients and families have approached her directly to share their story. A cancer patient who worked with the patient navigator and received compassionate care from screening and diagnostic testing through surgery, recovery, infusion and beyond. A grateful family who gifted the hospital team with a new garden. A resident celebrating a milestone birthday at The Orchard. Desimini says she feels most proud of her team when she hears about the impact they have on the lives of people in the community.

Growing services to bring more care closer to home.

Riverside Tappahannock Hospital and Riverside Medical Group have been expanding services to the community, with new physicians, added screening options, and state of the art medical equipment.

The Cancer Infusion Center, which opened at the end of 2016, performed more than 2,720 infusion treatments last year, conducted its first clinical trial, and added its first full time medical oncologist, Dr. Kimberly Schlesinger.

Riverside also implemented a new electronic health record platform across all of RMG, inpatient and outpatient clinics. Not only was this a major investment in time and resources, it allows patients greater access to their personal health information.

“Perhaps the greatest benefit comes to our patients who now have one comprehensive health record that includes all the care they receive from Riverside in any setting,” added Desimini.

Giving back to a community that gives so much.

In addition to growing team members with 144 new hires in 2017, including 31 newly-created roles, Riverside benefited from more than 13,900 hours of service from 79 adult and junior volunteers. But giving back to the community is also important to Riverside.

“I’m most proud of the dedication Riverside has to provide in-kind giving to those most in need,” Desimini pointed out. “In our region – between all the services offered - we gave away more than $3 million of in-kind care last year alone.”

Combining compassionate care with quality to deliver on the mission.

Riverside services in the Tappahannock and Northern Neck regions celebrated many quality recognitions in 2017. The hospital maintained its Four-Star CMS rating and DNV certification, but Desimini points to the 2017 Best in Virginia recognition from Virginia Living Magazine.

“To be recognized by the very community we serve means so much to our team,” Desimini adds.

The Orchard earned a Five-Star CMS rating for the first time in 2017, as well as the Silver Award from the American Health Care Association. Tappahannock Home Health successfully achieved CHAP accreditation. Ashley Williams, RN, received the Josie King Hero Award for adherence to patient safety practices.

“I know we will continue to improve across all areas as we strive to deliver on our promise to care for others as we would care for those we love,” says Desimini. “The state of our union is getting heathier every day.”